Blake Griffin, rushing the court, dream job & Adam Wainwright

Another Thursday, another morning in the JMP studios with Markley & Luciano and Hannah the Hottie doing news and Tall Guy in the penalty box. Tall Guy was getting a lot of crap for oversleeping this morning, and Hottie was lamenting the injury to Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, because “he’s dreamy.” Me, I’m just the guy they call “Stud” in the intro. …

1 Up — I’m not into dunk contests. So I did not watch the NBA dunkfest on Saturday night, because I had better things to do. But the news clip of the winning dunk by Blake Griffin caught my eye, and I had to watch it again. And again. … Remember when Dr. J and then MJ sprinted down the court and jumped just inside the free-throw line and flew to the dunk? Well, Griffin had ’em drive a KIA into the lane. He sprinted, jumped over the KIA, had sidekick Baron Davis toss the ball up to him through the sun roof, he caught the ball, dunked, swung on the rim and landed back on the KIA’s hood. I swear. Here it is.

1 Down — ISU studentsrushed the court after beating Bradley on Tuesday night in Normal. Theoretically, this was in celebration of beating out the Braves for ninth place to avoid finishing last in the Missouri Valley. Frankly, I think it was more about being an idiotic college student. Whatever. And now I’m told it was premeditated; determined by a vote that, “Yeah! We’re gonna rush the court if we win!” Do these loons not realize they’re also making fun of their own team’s ineptitude with this kind of stunt? I told Bradley athletics director Michael Cross after the game: “If Bradley students ever do that in similar circumstances, please take pictures, hand the pictures to the deans and demand the deans expel the the kids for being too freaking stupid to be in college!” … OK, I am relaxed now.

2 Up — Baseball fanatic? Baseball expert? Got some writing skill? Personality to burn? Adept at multiple media platforms? This job is for you. MLB.com is looking for someone to watch every regular-season and postseason game and blog and vlog and represent this season. If you don’t mind having no other life for about seven months, this is a great gig.

2 Down — The Cardinals have lost ace pitcher Adam Wainwright, who will require Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow. As my newsroom colleague Chris Grimm said, “That’s why you don’t pay a ballplayer $30 million a year.” He was referring to the reported contract demands by Albert Pujols, who has chronic elbow issues of his own. Now, Pujols is a first baseman, and there are many other reasons he might be worth $30 million, relative to the rest of the baseball world. But Wainwright’s injury is exactly why you should never — ever, under any circumstances — pay top dollar for a pitcher. One minute, a pitcher is throwing 95 mph, and the next throw his arm is in shambles.

Author: Kirk Wessler

Kirk Wessler is executive sports editor/columnist and has worked at the Journal Star since 1987. A graduate of Bradley University, he previously worked at the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune and Dallas Times-Herald. Wessler's work has won numerous awards from Associated Press Sports Editors, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Illinois Press Association and Illinois Associated Press. He is former president of the USBWA. Follow him on Twitter @KirkWessler.
View all posts by Kirk Wessler